It’s time to dive into the free agent pool to make that last push into a money spot in your deep league. September is fast approaching and that’s when a ton of new options will pop up and make a case for significant playing time.
Few prospects dominate the majors immediately. Ike Davis and Justin Smoak had so much promise once upon a time, only to see their stars dim in recent years. Coming into the season, Davis was still a somewhat promising player, whose struggled through an early illness in 2012. Smoak had already been written off as a bust. While the struggles continue for Davis, he’s starting showing signs of life after a recent promotion. Smoak is starting to show effectiveness in the majors for the first time in his career. There may still be hope for the former prospects.
There are just two weeks left in August and then, come September, rosters expand and your league’s waiver wire gets flooded with names filled with potential. But until then, you’re stuck sifting through the same old names, desperately hoping someone catches fire and can help boost your fantasy totals, even if for just a short time. Adding help at the corner infield spot can be a difficult task at this time of year, but it’s certainly not impossible. Read the rest of this entry »
It sometimes takes a while for fantasy owners to buy into surprise performances. There are plenty of reasons for this. For one, smart owners are always preaching sample size, and are willing to be patient on a surprise player before buying in. There’s also the issue of career performance to date. If a player has a career .258/.317/.444 slash line, it’s going to take a lot of convincing for an owner to believe when that player hits .277/.370/.565. Those, coincidentally, happen to be Ryan Raburn’s stats. Based on what he’s done this year, it might be time to start buying in to his performance.
Third base help is on the way! If you’re like me in my Tout Wars league, you may have been juggling third basemen all season long. I have endured Kevin Youkilis, Luis Valbuena and Lonnie Chisenhall with fingers crossed that Aramis Ramirez does indeed return from the DL this weekend. Now deep league owners have two more options to consider.
After the Ryan Braun suspension was announced, the most common question I got from ottoneu players was what to do with their $45, $50 or even $60 shares in Braun. No value left this year, but what will he bring to the table next year.
Eno Sarris looked at Braun’s value yesterday, so I’m not going to go down that path. Instead, we are going to take a look at the chain reaction that occurred when Braun was cut in the original ottoneu league, as a bit of a warning of what you should expect should he get cut in your league.
Injuries can lead to opportunity in fantasy leagues. Talented players may have been cast aside after impatient owners cut bait. Once those players are ready to return to the majors, they become hot commodities on the waiver wire. That’s not always the case when players are rehabbing. If you act early enough on a potentially valuable starter, there’s a chance you can get him on the cheap. Marco Estrada and Jason Vargas may currently be in the middle of their rehab assignments, but both can have value going forward.
It is not necessarily the best time to be a Phillies fan, what with the no shot at the playoffs and Ryan Howard getting paid forever and whatnot. But there is some help on the horizon, at least if you ask ottoneu players.
Two of the top three most auctioned players right now are in the Philly system, with an Astro in between them. We’ll take a look at Cuban pitching prospect Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, Double-A 3B Maikel Franco and presumptive Astro closer Jose Cisnero.
Even the best fantasy teams deal with injuries at some point during the season. Identifying solid second half contributors can help smart owners whether the storm as fatigue takes its toll on key contributors. Alex Wood has seen his stock soar after a strong season in the minors, and has impressed in limited major-league action. Wily Peralta broke in with a solid rookie performance, but it’s taken some time for him to adjust during his sophomore season. Both could provide value over the second half.
Let’s face it, even in leagues of 10 to 12 teams, the waiver wire is looking pretty bleak. Every once in a while you get to fight for some hit, young rookie like we all did for Christian Yelich the other day, but beyond that, it’s about fill-ins and stopgaps as opposed to long-term solutions. The middle infield is particularly ugly on this front so you have to dig deep. You still won’t find that perfect guy you’re looking for, but you might find someone who will stick for the duration of the season such as… Read the rest of this entry »
